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Sunday, October 27, 2013

WAKE UP REPUBLICANS! THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S GRAND OLD PARTY

Many from the right are in a funk. Dazed and confused by the lore of the old days of politics and tradition. Legions of Republicans, conservatives and right leaning voters need to wake up and realize today's politics is not like your father's Grand Old Party.

What do voters on the right traditionally do during the year? Well, usually around Labor Day they will drop by the local Republican office and pick-up a campaign yard sign. They'll return home and proudly display it on their front lawn. Next they'll show up to a local barbecue and socialize with the local Republicans and hear the candidate speak. Then, they'll show up on Election Day and vote. And, that's it they are done with politics for the year. Well, until next Labor Day.

The fallacy of by gone days is the crux of the problem with the grassroots Right. These right leaning voters have failed to realize their passive involvement in grassroots activism is not acceptable today. That is unless you want to continue to lose elections like Republicans seem to do quite well. (ie. McCain, Romney, George Allen, Cuccinelli, etc.)

Yes, this blog post is a kick in the pants to the right. A wake up call that must be taken seriously. Because many of the right has been asleep at the wheel, while the left has been capitalizing on our grassroots laziness.

About a decade ago the Democrats made a strategic move to do the hard work to win elections on every level. Federal, state and local. Leftists like Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe created a national infrastructure of paid field staff to begin organizing voters in every state. They would be doing what the traditional right voters detest. The hard basics that truly win elections. Including: voter registration, door knocking, phone banking and establishing real connections with voters. And, they would be doing this year round, year after year.

Meanwhile the Republican establishment would fail to react. They did not deploy year around field staff to work state by state to combat the left. They would not effectively use emerging technology to connect and influence voters. The lack of leadership from the Republican establishment has failed the conservative movement.

Here is a typical GOP operation during a election year. About April, the state Republican party will hire some field staff around the state and open some offices. The staff hired are usually right out of college with little local knowledge of the area they are responsible for. So, after a learning curb of trial and error by the field person over a few months, it is suddenly August. Time to ramp up phone banks and get signs out to local GOP units. They'll work up a fury of activity all the way to Election Day. Then, what happens? The state party closes the field offices and fires all of the staff. So, all of that local, grassroots knowledge is flushed down the drain. No continuity of grassroots activity takes place by the right.

You see, the left has banked on the right failing to keep up with them. Failing to work year around to influence voters. Failing to do what it takes to actually win elections.

That is why the right must wake up and become true grassroots activists. They must shake off the old school mentality of being content with putting up a sign and voting. The right must break their complacency.

A new sense of purpose is needed by conservatives and Republicans alike. To effectively combat the left, hard work must be done on the local level. Including what many Republicans bemoan, like door knocking and phone banking. And, this must be done throughout the year, not just after Labor Day.

You see, the grassroots left has been running circles around the right for years. The current Republican establishment has failed to take action. And, now it is time for the grassroots right to have a great awakening, to take ownership of the direction of our country, and realize this is not like your father's Grand Old Party, any more.

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The commentary provided on TheAmericanMaverick.com and "The American Maverick Radio Show" are the remarks on behalf of Maverick Media and personal expression of Flint Engleman. In no way, are these statements on behalf of any other organization or political entity.